The Santiagos' Revenge
by Ruffles of Awesomeness
Summary: AU: Carlos Santiago and his wife, Kiera, never died at Aspho Fields and go on to fight the Locust horde. After Dom was killed on patrol, Kiera was taken captive soon after, Carlos coming to her aid. How will they survive the coming war with the lambent? Myrrah? Will what they have experienced keep them alive? **Kiera is an original character!
1. Prologue

Prologue

It's cold. I had never really noticed it before, but I do now. Stuck in this imulsion fume ridden, glowing cell with nothing but my thoughts to keep me from losing my mind. I don't know how I've been able to keep it together since my convoy was attacked. Marcus and Carlos were the only ones to escape, Baird, Cole… the three of us were taken and then separated, stripped of our armor, put in these damp, putrid rags for refusing to work with the others. Now we're stuck, hidden from one another so to avoid any sort of "resistance." They were talking about processing us, whatever that is. All I know is that we've been left for dead, to starve in the dark, to grow weak so we won't fight back when the time comes. I feel a numbing pain in my head and stomach as I try to maintain consciousness. They won't pull me from this cell without a fight, that's for damn sure. My will seems to falter as nostalgia takes over, my mind fading into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The sound of gunfire startles me awake. _STAND UP, KIERA! GO TO THE DOOR._ My head screams and my body protests as I scramble to my feet to meet whatever is coming. I've heard the torturous screams in this place but never like this, at this juncture, it could be anything, anyone. There's a sudden eerie quietness as the gunfire lulls. _Is it over...? That's it?_ Footsteps echo through the hall, becoming louder as they reach my cell. I hold myself up by the wall ready for what's out there.

"Jack, rip that door!" Light flows through the room as my cell door falls at my feet, the silhouette of a man looking right at my almost lifeless expression. "Kiera, baby? You all right?"

"Well I'll be damned… Carlos Santiago! What took you so long?"


	2. Chapter 1: Saved

Chapter 1

Saved – One Month After Kiera's Rescue

 _"_ _Hostiles! All around you!" Dominic and I were on our daily patrol in Jacinto when it happened, with all the city buildings, it was surprising any of us had seen the ambush coming. Things had been quiet the last few weeks no surprise emergence attacks, no Boomer raids, nothing. We had let our guard down, somewhat, but we knew there was still a fight ahead. Marcus had spotted them from his post, but it was too late. We had Glowies and Locust alike revealing themselves, sprouting up from their emergence holes, fighting us and each other. The crossfire would definitely get us if we didn't run out of ammunition, first._

 _"_ _Marcus! We're going to need backup! NOW!" Dominic was going to shout off someone's ear if we didn't get help soon, I mean, shit had hit the fan a long time ago, but now we were surrounded, outnumbered. It was hopeless for just the two of us, we needed help. Explosions of gunfire, the blazing of Lancer chainsaws roared around us as we fought for our lives._

 _I was loading my last mag when I heard Dominic scream. "Kiera! Get down!" he pushed me out of the way, shoving his commando knife into a Grenadier's skull. I scrambled back onto my feet when what looked like a serrated sword slashed out of his chest, a nine-foot Drone behind him._

 _"_ _Noo! Dominic!" I emptied my clip into his killer and his eyes went dark. A rage sprouted in me and before I could act Carlos and Marcus were pulling me back. "Dom…"_

"Kiera, baby, wake up…" Carlos was shaking me with some force. I groaned, shielding my face from the light of the room. "Hoffman wants us for briefing. He's sending us back into the Hollow after Evyro and his bitch of a mistress." Evyro? His very name made me cringe. The bastard had been RAAM's "left hand man," a Hunter Elite raised to become a bigger monster than his master was. He had been there when Marcus killed RAAM and took over after his death, terrorizing all who inhabited Sera to the brink of madness. He was better at his job than RAAM, and Myrrah named him general. A completely new enemy for us to dispose of. How many of Myrrah's puppets would we have to kill before we could get to her and finish this? I heard the clinking of armor just before Carlos tossed it on me. "Come on, lazy ass. Get dressed. Don't want to be late. It's your first day back on official duty"

I sighed heavily and stood up, pulling on my armor. "First day and look where they're putting me. Hoffman does realize I was there, right? There is no way to get in and out without being caught. We kill a Locust convoy; it'll be replaced on the way out. There are patrols everywhere and they aren't killing anyone they take. Didn't you hear all the screaming? Carlos, they're torturing humans and then making them work for them in camps. Hoffman is setting us up for a suicide mission. We're going to end up like Dominic…" I fumbled with my boot and sighed. I hadn't been back all that long, maybe a month, and we were already being sent back into the Hollow? Tunnels upon tunnels of imulsion, death, Locust of all type, and with Evyro on our tails? There wouldn't be a return journey if we couldn't get past it all without getting lost or captured, subject to all kinds of tortures and labor to amuse the Locust Queen.

"Hoffman is doing what he and Prescott think is best for the Coalition. If it's a suicide mission, we beat the odds, and we do what Dom would have done. You can't keep thinking about that. We have a bigger cause, now. Let's go. We're already late."

"We know that cities are falling, all the ones around Jacinto, and we need you to figure out how so we can end those bastards for good, Delta." Hoffman had all ready been briefing Delta-One on their mission, _Operation: Hollow Storm_ is what he called it; a counterattack into the Inner Hollow designed to take out the Locust leadership. Carlos and I had just taken our places when the description of the mission was laid out for the group.

"Her name is Myrrah, Hoffman. And from what I understand, you and Prescott have known that for a while." I had hoped they wouldn't be so vague about something the government, what was left of it, was scared of. "Don't bullshit us, Hoffman. Lay it out. I'm not going to risk my life again if the people around me don't know exactly what is going on around them."

"Lieutenant, I'm not going to lie to you. We did know about Myrrah, but we don't know what we are up against; we don't know what is destroying our last few beacons of civilization, which is why I'm sending you out there. You have been there; you will be assisting Fenix on this mission. I expect the best out of all of you, you are Jacinto's only hope. We don't know how many of those fuckers are out there and it's your job to figure it out." _Great. Put your mistakes on me._ I narrowed my eyes at him. The more he spoke, the more bullshit rolled out of his mouth

I nodded. "You wanna know what's down there? Do you really wanna know? Why don't you go see for yourself!?" My eyes burned from holding back tears of anger. _Oh! 'We're sorry you went through things without any thought from us but we're going to send you back down there again. Maybe this time you won't get caught." Well, fine. Two can play that game._ "That's right, because it's our job, not yours. Fine, here's what I know. The locust? Yeah, they aren't killing people, they're experimenting on them. The Hollow extends further than you think and if this is going to work, you need exact measurements, otherwise this is all in vain, and we can't have that, now can we?"

"Then gear up, lieutenant, and go get those schematics." I rolled my eyes, did Hoffman really think there was any real way to complete this? One platoon being sent out to save the whole of the human race? No.

"With all due respect, Sir, this is a suicide mission. You're really willing to risk our necks with the slightest hope that there is some sort of solution?" Hoffman nodded. _Ass._

I stood, walking toward the exit. "I'll go because I know what's down there. Not because you're ordering it. You better hope you are right about this mission, Sir." _I'll go because Dom would have wanted to…_


End file.
